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Fueled by streaming, U.S. music industry revenue sees substantial growth

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This year's top albums by music writers Maeve McDermott and Patrick Ryan include musicans and performers across genres, with several mentioned breaking barriers of traditional categories within one album. The best album list includes Travis Scott's "Astroworld." Christopher Polk / Getty Images

Kacey Musgraves' "Golden Hour," also on our list, rightfully received the Country Music Award for album of the year and a Grammy nomination in its top album category. Charles Sykes, Charles Sykes/Invision/AP

Future's “Beastmode 2” is a condensed album with a pitch-black heart that sticks to your lungs like tar, his tales of depravity getting a lift from producer Zaytoven’s showy classical flourishes. Kevin Winter / Getty Images

Lindsay Jordan of Snail Mail is a teenage prodigy making ‘90s indie rock as good as some of the greats who influenced her. Her album "Lush" is in our top albums of the year. Richard Lui, The Desert Sun-USA TODAY NETWORK

Hélöise Letissier is easily one of the most interesting figures in pop right now, and luckily for listeners, her second album "Chris" is a vivid showcase for her character. VALERY HACHE, AFP/Getty Images

Singer Victoria Legrand of Beach House, one of the most consistently-thrilling indie rock bands of the past decade. The Baltimore dream-pop duo shared their seventh album this year, appropriately titled "7." Omar Ornelas, The Desert Sun

U.S. recorded music revenue surged to $9.8 billion in 2018, fueled by the continued growth of music streaming.

It's the third consecutive year of double-digit growth for the music industry, which was beleaguered less than a decade ago as streaming failed to compensate for dwindling CD sales. The year-end revenue figures were announced by the Recording Industry Association of America on Thursday. The trade group that represents record labels and artists releases the report annually.

“You can feel rising excitement and optimism within the halls of the record labels, and it’s a moment worth celebrating,” RIAA Chairman and CEO Mitch Glazier said in a blog post that accompanied the revenue figures. “Fifty million subscriptions illustrate fans’ unrivaled love for music and the way it shapes our identities and culture — and showcases an industry that has embraced the future and found a healthy path forward in the digital economy.”

Just four years ago, U.S. streaming revenue totaled $2.3 billion. That number skyrocketed to $7.4 billion last year.

Revenue derived from streaming subscriptions increased 32 percent to $5.4 billion. That’s an especially intriguing number for an industry that just a few years ago was wringing its hands over how streaming would affect its bottom line.

On average, more than 1 million new streaming subscriptions were added on a monthly basis.

The glowing news on the streaming front overshadowed another bleak year for CDs, which saw their sales plummet by 34 percent to $689 million.

Vinyl albums remained a bright spot in the fading world of physical music sales. Vinyl sales grew to $419.2 million last year, an increase of 8 percent.